The Daily News Journal, By Michelle Willard, January 31, 2015
TRC Nashville, an archaeological crew excavated 19th-century graves at the Nashville Zoo in early 2014. DNA and skeletal evidence from the remains showed the graves were almost certainly part of a slave cemetery at the old Grassmere farm.
MURFREESBORO — Middle Tennessee’s past was present Thursday night at the inaugural meeting of the Rutherford County Archaeological Society as local history buffs gathered to hear from an MTSU professor.
Rutherford County has a rich history and prehistory, organizer Laura Bartel said, and the new society will provide a place for people interested in the area’s resources to learn more.
“I saw a need for a local archaeological society where we bring professionals and the public together to protect and learn about the cultural heritage of Rutherford County,” Bartel said.
The group plans to meet monthly and feature presentations from MTSU professors and local professional archaeologists about the prehistory of Middle Tennessee, she said.
“RCAS is open to anyone interested in archaeology. Our focus is on the archaeology and cultural heritage of the county, as well as archaeological and anthropological topics in general,” said Bartel, a Murfreesboro resident and part-time instructor of anthropology at Motlow State Community College.
The new organization held its inaugural meeting Thursday night at the Heritage Center on College Street with a presentation by MTSU professor Shannon Hodge about findings from a cemetery relocation project at the Nashville Zoo.
The remains of 20 individuals were uncovered when the zoo decided in early 2014 to redesign its front entrance. It then hired professional archaeologists from TRC Nashville to excavate and relocate the remains on the Grassmere property. Hodge said she was asked to take a closer look at the skeletal remains to determine whether they belonged to Grassmere’s slave population or someone else entirely. General evidence suggested the cemetery is likely from the property’s slave population, Hodge said. And census records showed as many as 30 slaves lived on the site, and no other slave cemetery has been found. “But one thing threw the investigators off. All were buried in coffins, and most were buried in clothes,” Hodge said. “Most slaves (at that time) were buried in shrouds without coffins.”
She explained the clothing and coffins represents a monetary and material investment in the individuals at the time of death, which usually wasn’t made in slave burials. To answer the question, she turned to markers on the skeletal remains as well as DNA evidence to determine the ancestry of the individuals.
What she found was somewhat surprising.
She found the individuals were generally healthy and well-fed before their deaths.
“But they were hard workers with robust skeletons and arthritic patterns,” Hodge said, adding that suggests they were slaves. She also spotted evidence that suggested one young man, who died between 17 years old and 21 years old, likely suffered from sicklecell anemia, a hereditary disease common to people of African descent.
“We can look at this kid’s DNA and tell if he actually had the disease,” she said, noting she is submitting a grant request to do just that.
To confirm her suspicions, Hodge took and tested DNA samples from three graves. Two were clearly of African descent, but the third returned a genetic profile that is typically found in the Mediterranean, specifically southern Europe and North Africa. This ancestry is not commonly found in slave populations of the Southeastern United States, she said. The findings add to the picture of of history of Davidson County, Hodge said. “The thing I find amazing about the project is, this is an opportunity … for all of the people of Nashville who visit the zoo to learn about the people who helped build the city of Nashville,” Hodge said.
Next month’s meeting will feature MTSU archaeology professor Tanya Peres who will provide an overview of archaeology in Rutherford County.
“Rutherford County was home to Native Americans over 7,000 years ago, and two recently identified sites have given us clues to the past lives of these ancient residents. There is a rich prehistoric cultural past in Rutherford County that we are just beginning to understand,” Peres said.
She also plans to share how the public can get involved in order to help document the county’s ancient past before it is lost to growth and development. The meeting is set for 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 19 at the Heritage Center of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County, 225 W. College St.
Contact Michelle Willard at 615-278-5164 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter@MichWillard.